The 30 best cartoons even adults can enjoy

12. Batman: The Animated Series

There have been a lot of different cartoons dealing the Batman over the years. Many were great, and others remain forgettable. There are two that stand above the rest as the best of the best. Those are Batman Beyond, which deals with a future where Bruce Wayne is an older man and passes on the mantle to a new Batman. The other is a cartoon that caters to many adult fans of the Caped Crusader – Batman: The Animated Series.

Batman: The Animated Series aired from 1992 until 1995, created by the great Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, with Batman voiced by Kevin Conroy and Joker voiced by Mark Hamill. The show was a huge critical success, winning four Emmy Awards through the years. This was also one of the first DC Comics animated series to have an actual continuity, which was great for adult fans who wanted more than just a weekly adventure.

The series was so popular that it spawned three feature films, including Mask of Phantasm, Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero and Batman and Harley Quinn (although that last one was nowhere near the level of the previous movies or the show). One huge difference between this and previous Batman efforts was the level of violence that included injuries and real consequences for the heroes. The success of this adult cartoon also spawned a Superman cartoon that was not up to the level of the Batman series.

Batman: The Animated Series only lasted four seasons and a total of 85 episodes, but it set the template for what a superhero cartoon should look like. It also proved that adult audiences were just as hungry for good superhero cartoons as the young ones.